The T-shirt was originally developed as an undershirt for sailors in 1913. Hanes and Sears Roebuck began producing them for civilians in the late 1930s. The military tested T-shirts for suitability and found them to be preferred over traditional tank tops. Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Elvis made the T-shirt a fashionable outer garment. Tie-dye and printed T-shirts became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, and the T-shirt remains a staple of American culture today.
A t-shirt has a straight body with sleeves at the top that form the letter “t,” hence the name “t-shirt.” While similar types of cotton T-shirts were worn before the T-shirt, they were all sleeveless varieties, so not really “t” shirts or T-shirts. The United States Navy started making undershirts for sailors in 1913 because they wanted something under the sailors’ jumpers that would cover their chest hair.
Civilian men wore a sleeveless undergarment called a T-shirt. It wasn’t until the late 1930s that Hanes and Sears Roebuck produced the jersey for sale to civilians. Fruit of the Loom began manufacturing the jersey in 1938.
Sears offered a 24-cent T-shirt in 1938 designed as a sailor’s undergarment. The shirt was called the “gob” shirt; gob was the popular slang term for a sailor in the United States Navy. Sears announced that the gob shirt was suitable to be worn as an outer garment rather than just an undergarment.
When the Marines began wearing the white T-shirt as their outer garment, they soon realized that they were too easy for the enemy to spot. The military used to dye the shirts with ground coffee for better camouflage. Soon after, standard green military shirts were developed and issued to the Marines and then the Army.
In reality, military tests were done on T-shirts to determine their suitability for military service. For example, some members of the military received T-shirts and asked for feedback on how they compared to the traditional tank top. Most servicemen preferred the undershirt shape for many reasons, for example backpacks were more comfortable on the back of the shoulders with undershirts on, and the sleeves allowed for better sweat absorption. In addition, the additional sleeves protected the shoulders from sunburn.
When Marlon Brando wore a skinny T-shirt as an outer garment in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” it caused quite the sensation. James Dean and Elvis also gave the shirt a sexy new look and the tighter style that showed off the male body became very popular. The jersey was definitely a men’s item of clothing until the 1950s, when sports jerseys began to be worn by both genders and were decorated with felt lettering for school teams and clubs.
Tie-dyed T-shirts were popular in the 1960s and T-shirts printed with TV and music stars were a hit in the 1970s. The basic “t” shape of the shirts remained the same, while the necklines they changed to scoop, vees and the sleeves became long or medium. Soon the T-shirt became available in such variations as decorated by designers with semi-precious stones. Inexpensive and comfortable, the T-shirt, sometimes also spelled out, is still a part of American culture today.
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